Brain Politics

Conclusion (Can We Do Better Than Just Treat Mental Illness?): A Second Meeting With ET

Jack wants not just to recover from mental illness to his baseline but to do better. We discuss Jack’s exploration of the things that make him happier in a conversation with him and we go with him in to a dream in which he gets recommendations from ET on spirituality.

What Would E.T. Say? (An Alien Anthropologist's Perspective): A First Meeting

Dr. Parinja’s fictional patient Jack meets ET in his dreams and comes away with a different perspective on the state of human progress and learns how we should logically have a lot more positive emotions than we do. He gets an idea of what the distant human future could look like as artificial intelligence grows and Jack and ET try their hand at some evolutionary hypotheses.

Managing Brain Politics When Two Realms Meet (Communication and Conflict Resolution)

Every interaction between two people can be thought to be an interaction of two realms, each with their own respective characters. Successful communication involves managing not only one's own realm but also navigating the realm of the other person to get them to understand and feel what you are trying to tell them. We walk through some of the techniques and pitfalls of communication using the two realm concept. We learn about the Dukes' love of dueling and how to overcome it.

What People Want and Why (A Deep Dive Into Our Evolutionary History)

We take a journey in a time machine to see how ancient humans lived and also get some insights into the evolutionary challenges that shaped our brains using dreams that Dr. Parinja’s fictional patient Jack had, inspired by two iconic Hollywood movies. This episode summarizes what humans want socially and why.

The Robot and the Ghost (The Brain's Ancient Autonomous Systems)

The Robot is the brain's habit system. It works to automate anything that we do repeatedly. It reduces the effort needed for the action and eventually takes over the action so we can do it without thinking. The Ghost is the brain's unconscious. There is a lot that goes on in the brain outside of our conscious awareness, which profoundly influences how we think act and feel. Knowing the rules by which these two systems operate is vital for the King to excel at Brain Politics.